Mortal's Son
by Prowriter13
Summary: Claimed by power, famed by name. Son of War, hidden in shame. Brave at heart, lost in mind. Many loves the boy shall find. Burned by fire, slaughtered by shard. God like powers he'll find hard. Friends lives, he shall claim. His only fear is in his name. Banned to love, first to fight. Friends alike will fear his might.
1. Chapter 1

It was once said by Aldous Huxly, some man I do not know, that 'sons have always a rebellious wish to be disillusioned by that which charmed their fathers." If Huxly was right, and I had known who he was and read more of his wise words, I would've known to avoid war at all costs. Obviously I didn't, now I know. I also would've kept Clarisse by my side and out of battlefields as well, like any good big brother would've done. Again, I didn't know which is why she's scarred and bruised and wears marks of battle and loss all over her body. You can't tell from looking at her, but her mind is the same. Me, my love, my friends, we're all the same.

The day Clarisse came to camp, was the day I had to grow up. I could no longer run around and sword fight with my half-brothers, challenging them to races in the lake and helping Annabeth with our capture the flag plans against the manipulative children of Hephaestus. Whether I'd admit it or not, in later years that'd be what I missed most, simple things like spending time with Annabeth. Maybe things would've turned out differently if I'd just chose the right, but I'm not sure I'd be as happy as I am now.

My duty from then on was to care for Clarisse, make sure she had everything she needed and most of what she wanted. Power, strength, those were easy to give her. I made my half-brothers and anyone who I felt wasn't worth my time fear me almost instantly. There were even times Mr. D would watch his back around me and he was a god. I quickly over-powered my older brothers, not admitting I'd been going easy on them for two years. Word got around about what I'd done to earn myself a year-long boarding room in Cabin Five and it only added to my image built by my friends' fear.

Clarisse quickly took control of the cabin and nobody questioned her leadership capabilities, knowing it'd be met with me. She was proud, pretentious and quick to act, characteristics our father was known for, but she was also brave.

After two years at Camp Half-Blood, I never gave up hope that I'd see my sister again. I didn't know what I was thinking, leaving her with my mother, but it was safer than taking her with me, and staying wasn't an option. Mom made that very clear.

When there was a knock on the door, my older half-brother, Jackson, opened it and revealed Annabeth standing outside of the cabin, I had thought she'd come to remind me of some meeting I'd forgotten, but I quickly remembered that I wouldn't forget a meeting with Annabeth. Somebody else, maybe, but not my best friend.

"Hello beautiful." Jackson's tone was casual, but Annabeth didn't seem to notice. I didn't know it was possible for a nine-year-old girl to turn fire-truck red until I saw it with my own eyes. "What do you need?" Jackson's question snapped her out of her slight trance and she met my eyes as if my half-brother wasn't blocking half the doorway.

"Chiron needs T.H. at the Big House." I stood up just as another one of my half-brothers cackled.

"You're in trouble now, T.H." I sent a glare behind me, not exactly sure which one had insulted me, before shoving past Jackson. He gave me a shove out the door and I struggled to keep my balance as I almost fell off the porch.

Annabeth sent me a bright smile and for a second, I saw her grey eyes drift into blue, like the clouds drifting out of the view of the sky, but I blinked and the illusion had ended. I automatically looked at my feet, feeling ashamed, as if I didn't deserve to see such beauty.

Annabeth began to walk and I followed after her. I waited until I was out of hearing range of my cabin members, before questioning her on my thoughts.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" I fell into step with her and she shrugged. I didn't continue, knowing I'd get a detailed answer soon enough.

"I don't think so. I know it has something to do with a new camper that showed up a few minutes ago, so it's probably about giving them a tour or something. He probably suspects she's a child of Ares." I nodded. I was convinced that was all it was. Her and I were both wrong.

_She? A daughter of Ares. _The voice in my head laughed. I felt bad for her if she was.

Annabeth and I didn't speak after that. It was normal for us to sit in silence. We both felt comfortable in it.

I'd known Annabeth longer than I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, not by much, but still longer. We'd gotten along well enough for the children of rivals. She seemed to be untrusting of me, but she quickly realized I suppressed everything that tied me to my father and she trusted me wholeheartedly, with everything.

I held the door open for Annabeth, admiring how gracefully she walked and quickly turned to see Chiron, sitting in his wheelchair, next to a familiar girl.

"Clare." She turned and a smile spread across her face when she realized who I was and how I knew my nickname for her.

"Thay." She stood up while saying my nickname.

It was then I'd noticed how much she's changed in two years. She was bigger, but not taller than me, unlike the last time I'd seen her, where we'd been exactly the same height and weight. Now I towered over her. Her hair was longer. It'd been shoulder length before, but now it fell down her back in a long wave.

She seemed to be checking out my differences as well because her eyes scanned my body continuously.

"You're so buff and tall and beat up. Why are you beat up?" I looked at outfit, before realizing that it was burnt in odd places from the rock-climbing wall's lava.

Chiron didn't wait for my answer before wheeling towards the exit.

"I see you two know each other. I guess I should make sure a bunk is made for Clarisse in Cabin Five while Mr. D finishes talking with your mother." I watched him leave and finally realized that Annabeth was still standing in the room.

"Clare, this is Annabeth. She helped me get here." Annabeth sent me a grateful smile, probably thankful I didn't forget about her and held her out her hand for Clare to shake.

Clare's face suddenly hardened, as if she smelt something rotten, but shook Annabeth's hand anyway. I saw Clare's grip crush Annabeth's almost the moment their hands touched. I thought about separating them, but Annabeth narrowed her eyes and tried to crush her hand back, which she failed at doing and Clare let her go. They both turned to me, as if I had caused the mini arm wrestle. Clare was the first to speak.

"I have to get my things from Mom. Do you and your girlfriend want to come with?" I choked.

My mother was here. That was the one thing I never expected to hear. Camp Half-Blood had been my home for two years. I could forget about the things my seven-year-old self did. I had changed.

"She's not my girlfriend," were the only words that came out. Annabeth went a bright shade of pink, but Clare just shrugged.

Could she even look at me? Would I hug her if I saw her? Would I break down and cry? Would she? She'd probably get scared and leave and take Clare with her. Did she know I was here? She didn't. Had she, Clare would've known as well.

I followed Clare onto the porch and froze when I saw Mr. D talking to the tall, strong, blond women on Half-Blood Hill. She turned and looked right at us.

I couldn't see her face and she probably didn't recognize me, but I couldn't bring myself to walk any further.

"Clare." My voice came out gruff, but she turned to look at me anyway. "Don't mention I'm here." She nodded and began walking towards the hill. I didn't follow after her because I knew I couldn't face her. I was being a coward.

"Hey, it's okay." I felt Annabeth's hand on my shoulder. She knew everything. So did Luke and Thalia, but I never expected something like this to happen.

I turned to look at her. She wasn't smiling. Her eyes met mine and I wanted to flinch back.

"How are we friends?" Annabeth's eyes widened.

"Because we make a perfect team. Daughter of the goddess of battle strategy and son of the god of war. Because we've known each other for almost three years. Because I trust you more than anyone I know. Because-" I cut her off.

"That's not what I mean, Annabeth. How can you be my friend knowing I've killed people? That I'm a monster?" Annabeth laughed, as if this wasn't a serious matter.

"I've seen monsters, T.H. You're not one of them." Our eyes were still locked on one another. Than I must be insane, I thought.

A ten-year-old who'd kill two people was either a monster or insane or both, which is most likely. I looked down at my feet, away from her grey eyes that I'd seen too often.

"Thay! Thay!" I looked and saw Clare running this way, Mr. D walking slowly along behind her. I couldn't help but look up at the hill. My mother had already left. Something settled in my stomach, that may be the last time I'll see her.

"She's just a dime isn't she?" I looked at Annabeth, noticing the sarcasm in her voice. I rolled my eyes and waved at Clare.

She continued to run until she was on the stairs. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave me the same smile she gave me when we lived together. There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, but I knew I'd wait until we were alone, but even then, I wasn't sure I wanted the answer.

"I think we need to talk." I looked at her and nodded, heading inside the Big House. I knew Annabeth would follow, but something made me wish she wouldn't.

Clare sat down and gave me a look that would've had me burned alive if looks could kill. I felt Annabeth's presence behind me. I turned around, ready to tell her to go away, but Clare beat me to words.

"You've been here for two years?" Annabeth's eyes widened, as if she could sense my panic.

"Yeah, and?" I turned back around to face my sister, knowing I'd sparked her temper.

"And you didn't say anything." She looked like a mixture of rage and sadness, both were annoying, but combined they made my chest hurt.

"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry I can't be home with you, even though Mom doesn't want me there anyways, because our dad's the God of War and crazy monsters are out to get me.' I don't think that'd make for a pretty letter, Clare." She narrowed her eyes at me.

"You really think they stopped coming just because one of us left, Thay." It's then that I noticed a small scar sticking out of her sleeve.

I had left my sister alone with no protection and no reasoning behind why everything around her was going wrong. I'd left her in the hands of a mortal women, who'd just witnessed her son murder her husband. I'd left her in a city where everyone knew her as the twin sister of a crazy kid. I'd left her to hell, but that didn't stop my anger.

"You just sat by and watched as Mom shipped me off and you're getting mad at _me_ for not writing. Where were you when I was trapped in a mental hospital for a year?" Her face flushed with the same rage she'd unleashed on me when we were kids. We both had it. A gift from Ares.

"You'd killed someone, Thay. I'd probably had been locked away too if I tried to defend you after that!" I had no intention of calming down and I knew Clarisse didn't either, but when I saw Annabeth in the corner, I felt my temper spike to an all-time high.

"Will you get out of here? This is a private matter!" Annabeth jumped at the tone of my voice, but my anger didn't reside at all. "This is none of your business!"

"T.H. calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do, Annabeth." I felt my voice grumble, like I was growling at my best friend.

"Thay." I kept my eyes on Annabeth and Clare repeated herself. "Thay, leave your friend out of this." I looked behind me at my twin sister and felt every bit of anger in my body multiply.

"She's not my friend! I don't have any friends! I don't need friends! I don't need anyone!" I'll admit I was being dramatic, but when Annabelle glared at me for the first time ever and stormed out of the Big House, my future with her was set. Those three years as friends went down the drain.

Little did I know, that had that not happened, I could've had my life spared.


	2. Chapter 2

I had been beating my half-brother, Jasper, at a very complicated game of rock, paper, scissors, pain on the cabin porch when I was interrupted by the sight of my sister being almost thrown out of the bathroom by dirty water. I instantly stood up, seeing that she was joined by her friends as both my cabin and all the other cabins surrounding us went quiet.

My sister and her friends were sprawled on the ground, soaked in their favorite clothes when they were joined by a boy with messy black hair and my old friend.

"You are dead, new boy," I heard Clarisse's voice as I marched towards them. A small group of campers from other cabins stopping to laugh at the embarrassment of Cabin 5.

"You want to gargle toilet water again, Clarisse? Then close your mouth." I had finally come to a stop in the wet grass next to my sister, when I turned to look at the boy. He was dry, completely. He stood in a proud way with a smug smile on his face, while Annabeth gawked at him, like he was a god himself.

It'd been years since I'd spoken to her, and even though I knew it was my duty to defend my sister from the two pests, I didn't feel the need to say a word to anyone but her.

Annabeth had grown. I did notice that from the times I'd watch her attempt sword practice with her siblings or caugth glimpses of her between activities. She had gotten taller, to my mid-neck almost. Her curly brown hair had gotten longer, but she still wore it the same way.

I didn't recognize the boy, but it didn't surprise me. I had avoided paying attention to anyone but myself and my sister. I kept her out of trouble and did what I was told. I'd learned to keep to myself, attempting to keep my temper took too much energy for socialization as well,, but when I saw my sister looking like a fool to a boy who looked much younger than us, I snapped.

"Stand up!" I looked at Clare, who almost seemed to shrink back from my sharpness. She put her hands on the ground and attempted to lift herself up, but she was too big for that. "I said, get up." She tried again and I felt my hands shaking when Annabeth said something to the boy that I didn't catch. I quickly looped my arm into my sister's, sick of looking like a fool and pulled her to her feet with ease.

"I'm sorry," she'd whispered to me, the only person I've ever heard her apologize to.

"Cabin 5 looks like a bunch of brainless fools, now." I shoved Clare's arm off from around me, annoyed of the leadership that'd gone to waste by my sister and the others.

"The other cabins still fear us. Ares is still the-" I cut her off.

"I don't care what they think of Ares." I'd lowered my voice, knowing my siblings, eternally loyal to my father, would kill if they heard what I truly thought about dear old dad. "He doesn't matter to me, but if you ever make me look like a fool again, there will be consequences." I tried to sound as threatening as I could to my sister, knowing that I held more power over her. She almost looked ready to argue before nodding.

"Fine."

For the rest of the day, I was forced to deal with people I didn't know coming up to me for information that I didn't know about things I knew less of. At first, I'd listened, wondering why people had actually thought today was a good day to annoy me, especially after Clare's screw up, but the more they talked the more information about the boy I was able to pull out of them.

He was new. Very new and he'd somehow barely escaped a Minotaur attack days before. How that had managed to go over my head, I'd never know. People were saying he might be one of the Big Three. Whether he was or not, would determine whether Cabin Five would be a laughing stock or his first challengers.

I'd caught another glimpse of him when he arrived, with the Hermes cabin of all people. There was a moment when I thought I'd laugh and point out my sister's ruthless attacker was only a Hermes trickster, but I quickly saw the majority of his cabin mates and saw he didn't fit in.

His black hair didn't go with the blond that Hermes was known for giving to his children. His green eyes were the most noticeable thing about him and for a second I doubted he was a demigod at all, but a sea nymph in disguise, but sadly he was male and it would never work. I had a hard time not looking at him, trying to place where I'd seen his features before and found myself looking down at my plate, not wanting to look obsessed with the soon to be punching bag of my sister, or so she tells me.

My entire table stood up, preparing for food. I instantly took the lead, where Clarisse, who'd craved being the Cabin Leader since she first arrived would normally be. Nobody questioned me and where my siblings were jostling, trying to get a place in line, not a single finger was laid on me.

I scraped off a piece of brisket, but said and thought nothing. Actually, avoiding the thought of my father, not feeling the need to give him any form of recognition. I felt eyes on me as I turned around, to head back to the table and saw the boy staring at me, eating hungrily off of his plate. I quickly looked away to see where my sister was glowering at him. She would be expecting me to do something. I sighed, before turning back to the boy. He made eye contact and I gave him my best "You're dead" glare. He suddenly looked away and continued to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

**_I would like to give my best friend, David credit for me getting this chapter done. He's been a great critic (though he doesn't critique much) and an even better friend. He's posting a story soon, so I'll tell all of you about it when he's got it up. Thank you. Be sure to leave a review and follow the story if you want more. Hope you like it. I tried to make it longer. _**

"Partner up!" I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That was obvious, but it never stopped me before. Most of the time, the cabins were asked to stay together when going into certain training courses, but of course you'd be sick of my siblings to if all you heard was "When are we going to kill something?" or "Why don't they bleed?" or the cabin favorite of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" when two of the dull-headed siblings of mine decided to duke it out in the archery range. It gets hard to learn anything.

I looked around as if any of the Hermes boys would consider pairing up with the master of war's son in a sword fight before shrugging and dug the tip of Atrohmtos into the ground, a tool I'd bought from the Hephaestus cabin during my first year in return for the promise of hard work when they needed it. I used it to lean on while I watched the Hermes brothers pick their favorite siblings, leaving the few kids who aren't Hermes' to partner together. But the boy who'd become my newest interest got the honor of being with my favorite sparring partner.

I watched the new camper get battered by the blade of Luke Castellian, another old friend of mine. The poor kid had no chance, with every lesson taught he'd be whipped by Luke's sword and occasionally small cuts accompanied them. He was sweating by the end when Luke called for a water break.

I didn't join in the joy filled ceremony that was only the halfway point of the entire training session, instead I waited until Luke, who didn't seem tired in the first place looked well rested and walked up to him.

"Wanna give them a real show?" I mumbled to him, knowing he could never turn down my challenges, even when we were younger. My voice unnerved me when it came out of my mouth, never hearing it enough to get used to the unnatural gruffness that it had for a thirteen year old. He jumped when he saw me.

"I didn't see you." I looked down. Disappearing was always something i was good at. A smile spread across his face, making his scar shine brighter. _I can remember when that wasn't there, _was my last thought before our battle broke out.

Luke had the advantage in age and experience, not to mention his natural ability that came from who knows where (not Hermes that's who), but I had the upper hand on him in size and speed, a few of the gifts from Ares I'm forced to thank him for. He immediately took the offensive, his secret to always winning, forcing me to take to defense. With every blow, I met him full force, causing both of us to clash. He would swing and I block him, then he'd jab, to throw me off. I believe i broke my record of the longest session I'd had with him before he sent my sword clattering to the ground as expected. His cabin cheered for him and i found myself scanning for the boy. Even though I'd lost, I knew that I'd done enough to make him regret messing with my sister.

Speaking of that incident, every time I brought it up to Clare (never in front of anyone of course) she'd always find a way to change the subject or avoid telling me what happened. The others of Cabin 5 had curiosities as well, but for different reasons. There was a camp-wide bet going around as to which god the new boy would be of. Most of my siblings had money on Zeus, firmly believing he was the only option considering he'd beaten a child of Ares, the rest chose Ares himself for the same reason. "No god could compete with father," Brent, one of them had said.

The arrival of the boy hadn't changed my daily routine. I'd gone through my days like any others including the hour or two I'd spent by Thalia's tree. It was my thinking place, where I'd go to relieve my stupid and philosophical thoughts alike. It was easy, especially with the memory of Thalia fresh in my mind. I could predict her every response, both in action and word. Without my time there, I wouldn't feel right and I'd begin to miss her and my old life and my mom. I just wouldn't be working properly. I'd be unbalanced sword. I'd feel like a broken shield.

I'd had to squeeze my time at the hill in at the last minute, which meant skipping dinner, but I didn't mind too much, having already eaten a huge lunch. I'd told the tree because of course Thalia couldn't hear me, all about the boy and Clare and everything else that was exciting me and bugging me all at the same time. In that list, Capture the Flag came up, and I regretted my decision to miss dinner. I mentally said goodbye to my safe haven and raced down to the Pavilion

I'd made it just in time for the bringing in of the flags. I took my seat at the table, my absence unnoted because of my usual . tardiness and watched Annabeth lug in the beautiful banner of Athena, then the gory and almost ugly banner of Ares was brought in by my sister and Toni. I found myself looking away, not being able to stand the sight of Ares symbol after it'd been burned into my mind when I'd run away.

Chiron gave his usual speech and I stood up, knowing that the equipment would soon take over the table and didn't feel the need to be surrounded by my cabin mates and at the groin level. I blinked and it was there. While my siblings rushed for weapons, mine was already covered, safely in the leather sheath it came in. I only needed a vest and a helmet, which I was able to grab easily. I threw in a couple daggers, just to keep it interesting. I was annoyed by the red that decorated everything, but ignored it for the simple sake of not wanting to be that much of a pain.

My cabin mates took a special interest in our Capture the Flag games, being the children of war himself, they couldn't help it at the chance to practice their favorite skills. One good outcome of this, however, is that our game plan is prepared from the day the last one ends. Clarisse and I take guard duty. Toni, Jasper, and Evan take positions of guard on all sides of us while the rest take cruise duty and each take a cabin in a different direction, patrolling for the Athena flag. It was an amazing plan that hadn't failed us in forever.

Our plan came crashing down on us, when I forgot a crucial detail: Clarisse was after the Jackson boy. Everything was fine, until Evan came running out of the bushes, smiling like a madman and instead of coming up to me to tell me what was happening he walked over to my sister.

"We found him. Annabeth has the weakling doing guard duty. Whatever everyone sees in him, she must see right through." Just the mention of Annabeth's name was enough to send Clare into a spiral, but the mention of the boy made her a swirling cloud of anger.

"Come on." Clare's voice suddenly became the booming voice a drill commander. The same one my mother would've used when chastising us.

Evan didn't hesitate to follow her and suddenly my heart began pounding as I looked at the flag behind us then to where my only other guards had disappeared. I thought about what she'd do to the boy if there was nobody to stop her and tried to stop my feet from moving, but suddenly I was running through the trees after my siblings.

I found them crowded around the small black-haired Jackson boy, who couldn't compete with one of my cabin mates not to mention seven of them. Suddenly, Clarisse stabbed him with her electric spear, a beloved gift from our father, who'd given it to me originally but when I denied decided it wasn't worth it and pretended he'd intended it for his favorite daughter the whole time. I felt myself attempt to rush to the boy's aid (that's what heroes do right?) but instead laughed when he was cut by Jasper. I couldn't help it. It was contagious.

Suddenly though, he seemed to stand taller as he knocked Jasper's helmet off. Two of my other brothers rushed forward like pawns in chess, ready to go down fighting for honor and the boy took them out with so much ease it was intimidating. Clarisse moved in, but I quickly knew he'd cut her down without a fight and I wasn't going to have that. I charged into him and suddenly our blades clashed. He was strong and sung with so much accuracy that he must've been using a cursed sword considering how he fought before. We swung back and forth each taking a turn and having the other block with perfect accuracy. I decided to switch things up, swinging then rotating back into a second swing, but just as I went in for the move the blade was knocked out of my hands and into the creek. The boy beamed before Clarisse tried to run him through with her spear. Suddenly, he turned and broke it with ease.

Clarisse cussed when the sound of cheering surrounded us. I felt my hand throw my sword down, realizing that I'd just lost Ares our flag, well, with the help of Clare. The LaRue siblings were now the game killers. I picked my sword up before jogging off to Thalia's hill, thinking that was the reason behind our failure.

The hill looked exactly the same as it had when I'd left earlier that day. The trees were all silent and no wind touched the small hill. The small pile of blue flowers from the strawberry garden, a part of my daily tradition, were untouched. Nothing was moved. It never was.

"I want him dead." I began cursing in Ancient Greek as I would often do when I got stressed and threw my sword down, for effect it stuck in the ground by the point, like a spear. "No, I want worse than that." I corrected myself when I thought of how much pain I could put the Jackson boy through. "I wanted him hunted by monsters. I want him to feel pain worse than anything I've felt. I want to see the boy's blood run so smoothly across his face that blinds him. I want-"

I was cut off by a gut wrenching growl from the woods behind me. I turned around just in time to see the beast run straight for me. Normally, I'd laugh as it hit the barrier, monsters often did that, but instead it crashed through the silk-like barrier bestowed upon us by Zeus himself and I barely got out of the way. The hound ran full speed past me and into the woods, seeming to know exactly where he was going.


	4. Chapter 4

I only had a second to piece my thoughts together. The hellhound was bigger than I was, the image of it burned into my head from the death of my friend. I'd felt like I'd been blown over by a strong rush of wind when the idea of what the creature could do to camp hit me.

I began to run as fast as my legs could take me. I knew I wouldn't be faster than the hound and I knew I wouldn't have time to warn the cabins, but I didn't let myself get discouraged.

I'd hated running from a young age. I hated how easily I'd run out of breath. I hated the way that my sides would hurt and I could never get my breaths to match my steps. I hated how I could never focus on anything but how soon I'd get to stop. I was built for strength, not speed, but even then I was still scrawnier than my siblings, not in a bad way, but more so that I could outrun them all. I'd began to think about what awaited me when I got to the camp. Would there be war? How many would be hurt after being so caught off guard, just after a battle too? They'd be slaughtered.

My thoughts made me pump harder and I felt myself speed up until I busted into the clearing where the rest of the camp was gathered.

"Percy run!' Was all I heard as I saw the large growling dog claw at the new boy.

Suddenly, the entire cabin of Apollo took aim and all shot the beast in the neck, led by Chiron himself. The dog fell, dead. The fight was over quickly and nobody noticed my reappearance, except, of course, my sister, who'd walked up behind me while I watched the dog, not trusting it to actually be dead.

"_Di immortalis!" _Annabeth had said. "That's a hellhound from the fields of punishment." It had taken me a moment to piece together exactly what that could mean, but I remembered the night I'd last seen one and pieced it together before anyone else could speak. "They don't- They're not supposed to-" Annabeth became a rush of emotion as she stared at the beast. I could see it on her face that just looking at it made her uncomfortable.

"Someone summoned it, Someone inside the camp" Chiron said. I froze. I'd heard of campers summoning monsters into camp for cruel pranks and jokes and plain rudeness, but the idea that someone had summoned a hell hound seemed illogical and too much of a pain to attempt.

I watched as Luke, one of my first friends at Camp Half Blood, walked over to where Chiron stood next to the boy.

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it." I looked over at Clare who'd just shouted from next to me, as did look, but I couldn't help but feel he'd looked at me instead.

The dog began to disappear, leaving no souvenir as Chiron silenced her. She didn't mind too much because she quickly turned to me, waiting for an explanation, when I realized that Luke was also watching me intently. His eyebrows were furrowed, like he was trying to figure out which sword blow would knock the air out of me the fastest.

Some commotion happened that I couldn't understand because I was too busy waiting for Luke to say something to me, but instead he kept his distance as if wondering what would happen if he came any closer. I was uncomfortable and took it upon myself to see what was happening. I shoved through the crowd just in time to see the wound across Percy's chest, where the dog must've gotten him heal, water almost traveling up his skin from the creek he stood in and sewing his skin back together. Then, I looked up.

A spinning trident made of green light had appeared over Percy's head. Another gift from his father. He was the sea god's son. I dropped to my knees as everyone has to do when a camper's parentage is announced, though nobody had for mine.

I'd turned around, ready to go back to Thalia's tree and rant some more. The pathetic piece of seaweed trash had not only embarrassed my cabin and me personally, but he'd been given the highest honor imaginable. The son of a Three. He didn't deserve that. He was weak. He could barely hold a sword outside of the water. He was nothing except for Poseidon's gifts. I was gripping my sword so tight that when a hand gripped my shoulder, I almost cut their head off before I even knew who it was.

I spun around face to face with a pissed of Luke gripping his sword as well. He threw a glance over his shoulder before grabbing my arm and pulling me into the thickness of the woods, where we wouldn't be seen by the now fleeting crowd of campers, not letting go of me until we were invisible to everyone who'd been near seconds before.

"What were you thinking?" Luke shoved me, still holding his sword by his side. He looked angry, but being a son of Ares, I knew the difference between genuine anger and fake and Luke was acting.

"I don't know-" Luke shoved me again and I felt my face begin to get red.

"You summoned that damn thing."

"I-" I froze, staring hard at my company in the woods. My short moment at the hill suddenly coming back to me full swing. "It takes more than a few words to summon something like that!" I tried to defend myself and Luke, who seemed caught off guard for a second quickly regained his acted anger, but I already knew that I could've. I didn't mean to, but I could've. I was angry. An angry son of war was more powerful than most of anything else. A couple words were enough for anything.

"You brought it here! After everything that happened to Thalia. One of those almost killed you and yet you think it's a brilliant idea to bring one here! Just because you were bested. You're just like Ares, stupid when angry."

That's when I swung at him, not caring about anything else, only that I wanted anyone who compared me to my heart begotten father dead.

Our tiny battle only lasted a good ten minutes, both of us too tired to actually make it to the death before Luke and I simultaneously gave up. Neither of us spoke to the other, covered in cuts and bruises that we'd end up blaming on the Capture the Flag game, and my mind racing, but I didn't let that stop me from passing out the moment I fell into my bed.


End file.
